Tap waters gone bad, is there such thing as too much PH Down?

Been running DWC fine for awhile now, with the EC being 0 and PH 7.4 from the tap and all I needed to do was add nutes until EC of 1.2 which would make my PH 6.0. After a week it would becomes EC 0.8 and PH 6.5

Recently there was a gastro bug outbreak which was blamed on the tap water and they have really messed with it.

EC now comes out at 0.5 and PH of 8.6.
Iv been using PH down to bring it to 5.5,
After 24 hours it will be back to 6.2
Another 24 hours and it will be 6.9
Another 24 hours and its at 7.5
Another 24 hours and its settled on 7.8

Is there any issue adding PH down every day?
I really dont want to have to go to RO water since im running 60L and changing weekly.

The plants would much rather have the extra phosphorus from the ph down than a ph in the high 7's from a lack of it.

yea, GH hydro down is just phosphoric acid (?), the extra P is good for the plants (to a point). you might get some calcium precipitation from using that much tho, by 'breaking' the carbonate buffers in the tap water, you'll eventually start getting some calcium deposits. I forget exactly why, but broken carbonates will start to bond with the calcium

sounds like my water

I use potassium silicate, 8% you want to add 4 to 8 ml per L Max, potsil is stronger so you use less

This puts your ph up a lot

then I use ph down normally the "bloom kind" so phosphoric acid but I find it good to use a little bit of the nitric based ph down and a little bit of citrus if I have it too (no fruit juice the actually pure citric stuff)

Then some extra P can help stabilize longer but that`s later

anyway I drop my ph to around 5 and a week later its around 6/6.5

Now if I had a garden I could get to all the time I would just come back an hour or 2 or day later readjust the ph and I`m sure it would stay there

Then I`d add the nutes depending on the ph after mixing the nutes in, I would decided what ph to set my water up for next time before mixing nutes into it

but yeah Potassium silicate is great for stabilizing the water because you put the ph up more before you bring it down

more buffers means it`ll take more action to get a ph swing

THE KONASSURE said:

sounds like my water

I use potassium silicate, 8% you want to add 4 to 8 ml per L Max, potsil is stronger so you use less

This puts your ph up a lot

then I use ph down normally the "bloom kind" so phosphoric acid but I find it good to use a little bit of the nitric based ph down and a little bit of citrus if I have it too (no fruit juice the actually pure citric stuff)

Then some extra P can help stabilize longer but that`s later

anyway I drop my ph to around 5 and a week later its around 6/6.5

Now if I had a garden I could get to all the time I would just come back an hour or 2 or day later readjust the ph and I`m sure it would stay there

Then I`d add the nutes depending on the ph after mixing the nutes in, I would decided what ph to set my water up for next time before mixing nutes into it

but yeah Potassium silicate is great for stabilizing the water because you put the ph up more before you bring it down

more buffers means it`ll take more action to get a ph swing

Click to expand...

Citric acid is not a good choice for ph buffering. You are essentially flushing every time you use it.

Carolina Dream'n said:

Citric acid is not a good choice for ph buffering. You are essentially flushing every time you use it.

Click to expand...

they sell citric ph down, it actually neutralizes chlorine and chloramine for 2 to 4 days it works well before harvest or using a small amount so you can get a ph swing you know a .4 or so swing is good so the availabilities shift

but I can`t say I was in a rush to get more when my last lot ran out

THE KONASSURE said:

they sell citric ph down, it actually neutralizes chlorine and chloramine for 2 to 4 days it works well before harvest or using a small amount so you can get a ph swing you know a .4 or so swing is good so the availabilities shift

but I can`t say I was in a rush to get more when my last lot ran out

Click to expand...

Hydro stores sell lots of things we don't need to be using. If someone will buy it they will sell it, whether or not it's the right option.

Carolina Dream'n said:

Hydro stores sell lots of things we don't need to be using. If someone will buy it they will sell it, whether or not it's the right option.

Click to expand...

seemed to do what it said like I said I like to use 3 types of ph down when setting my butt up

but vit c works great as a shower filter you`ll have the best shower ever you use a vit c filter, that is if you have shitty city water, lol